Bridging the Distance

The railway over-bridge at Kudesia crossing in Bareilly is a boon to commuters.
The city of Bareilly is the seventh largest in Uttar Pradesh. It is known to have a traditional street system, which more often than not is crowded and congested with vehicles. With rapidly increasing population and vehicular density, the city, which has the NH-24 passing through it, may have some reason to be at ease. The upcoming expansion plan of the NH-8 is reason for cheer for residents. And commuters, especially on the Nainital Road, will find some comfort for their traffic woes with the construction of Kudesia over-bridge in Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh.

The two-lane over-bridge connects Bareilly to Nainital and is built over the Kudesia rail crossing. The project was built by the UP State Bridge Corporation Ltd (UPSBCL) and the North Eastern Railways to cut down the waiting time of commuters owing to the Kudesia railway crossing and ease traffic jams in the region. According to HK Verma, Chief Project Manager, UPSBCL, ´The Kudesia over-bridge not only reduces the duration of the commute by almost 35-40 minutes by allowing an uninterrupted drive over the Kudesia crossing but is advantageous from the safety aspect as well.´

The specs
The 635 m bridge has made use of pre-stressing technology during construction. According to Verma, ´The advantage of the technology is that the occurrence of cracks in the concrete reduces to a great extent, thus increasing the quality of the structure. It is a technology that has been used often in UPSBCL projects.´

The pre-stressing technology had made use of high tensile steel in wire form known as stands. High-grade concrete of M-40 was used in the construction. Around 54,000 bags of cement used to make 4,500 cu m of concrete were utilised. The total amount of high-tensile steel that has been used is around 50 tonne. Of the total 635 m bridge, the Railways constructed 32 m of bridge that was over its land; the rest was built by the UPSBCL. The Railways installed six pre-cast stainless steel girders measuring 32 ft each to strengthen the over-bridge.

The challenges
Vehicular density was perhaps the primary challenge in building the bridge. There is high traffic in the area, with the TVU being over 6 lakh. To subset hurdles that could arise in undertaking construction work in such a heavily populated area, Verma says the work was undertaken at odd hours, often at night. Another challenge concerned utilities like sewer, water and electrical lines in the area where the bridge was being built. Proper planning was undertaken to ensure the work was completed in an efficient manner.

Bridges are only considered when the TVU bypasses the 1 lakh barrier. The bridge in the area was built after rapid increase in traffic, both vehicular and railway. The girdles and columns are given different shapes according to the necessity. Owing to space constraints, the shape of the bridge is such that the curvature of turns is sharp. The need to streamline traffic lies behind such design changes. The curvatures and turns required extra binding. ´In the absence of the bridge, the commuters are stuck in massive traffic jam at Kudesia gate crossing owing to the movement of trains,´ explains Verma. As this is a main line for trains coming from Haldwani, traffic chaos is a routine affair.

The advantages
This project will ease the traffic jams on the Nainital and Mini Bypass Road that connect the city with Delhi. The area has witnessed regular traffic hazards at the railway crossing with traffic held up for hours together. In a day, the railway crossing remains close for almost 13 hours, with 35 to 40 minutes at a given time, causing immense problems to commuters. The bridge allows for uninterrupted movement in the area even though it does not really reduce the distance in the journey.

Safety is a collateral benefit. ´Now that the bridge is available, instances of unfortunate incidents owing to the railway crossing can be nullified,´ says Verma. Plans are afoot to close the level crossing to allow unfettered movement of trains below with smooth vehicular movement on the over-bridge.

Worthy investment
The complete cost of the bridge is over Rs 21 lakh, including the amount spent by the Railways on its portion of the structure. The width of the bridge is 8.5 m. The bridge was completed in 21 months with the UPSBCL completing its portion in 15 months. The project was commissioned in July 2013 and was open for traffic by March 2015.

Project details
Location: Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh
Total length: 635 m
Total width: 8.5 m
Completion date: The project was commissioned in July 2013 and opened for traffic by March 2015
Contractor: Around 600 m built by: UP State Bridge Corporation Ltd (UPSBCL);
Tel: 0522-220 9792, 220 7606.
Fax: 0522-220 9798.
Website: www.bridgecorporationltd.com.
Around 35 m built by North Eastern Railway;
Website: www.ner.indianrailways.gov.in.
Total cost: Around Rs.21 lakh.
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